Firefighters struggled to control a major fire at a plastic waste-separating factory in Nakhon Ratchasima's Noen Sung district which began on Wednesday afternoon, and estimated that it would take another day or two to be completely extinguished.

As firefighters managed to put out most of the huge fire at a paper factory in Samut Prakan and continued to contain smouldering piles of debris as of press time, provincial governor Chatchai Uthaipan told officials to start distributing face masks among residents affected by the smoke.

Paradise, United States - Firefighters in California on Saturday battled raging blazes at both ends of the state that have left at least nine people dead and thousands of homes destroyed, but there was little hope of containing the flames anytime soon.

More than 20 people, mainly Russian football fans, were injured Tuesday when an escalator in a metro station in central Rome collapsed, firefighters said, in an incident some blamed on raucous soccer supporters.